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Dr Patricia (Tricia) McCabe
In 2016 Speech Pathology Australia ran the
2030 Making Futures Happen
Project in which the profession was asked to imagine what and who we would
be in that distant future. We were asked to imagine society, technology,
climate, economy, education and health in 2030 and to dream up what this
could and indeed should look like to speech pathologists and our clients here
and elsewhere. In reflecting on where we are going, we were also encouraged
to consider where we have come from. For me that particular question caused
me to reflect on those courageous individuals who lead change in theory and
practice, particularly in the Australian context.
This talk follows from the questions that the
Making Futures Happen
project
raises for someone whose professional life is spent contemplating ways to
improve our practice, teaching these improvements to the next generation of
speech pathologists, and through innovation, education and clinical practice
changing the lives of our clients.
Through the lens of research and practice in Childhood Apraxia of Speech
(CAS), this talk will examine how change happens in speech pathology practice.
Over the past 10 years a number of treatments have emerged which make
substantial improvements to the speech of children with CAS. These treatments
have one thing in common, they require clinicians to change their current
practices, particularly with reference to how frequently they see their clients
and how they utilise the principles of motor learning and neuroplasticity to
effect change.
Some of the ideas addressed will include who makes change happen? Do we
change by evolution or by revolution? And why do some clinicians resist change
in practice? The facilitators and inhibitors that allow each of us to adopt new
practices and to influence the behaviour of those around us will be explored.
TEU: Elizabeth Usher Memorial Lecture:
How do we change our clinical practice?
Tuesday 30 May
9.00am – 10.30am
Featured Presenters
Dr Tricia McCabe CPSP is Head of Discipline and Associate Professor
in Speech Pathology in the Faculty of Health Sciences at The
University of Sydney. From 2010-2016 she was Course Director of
the undergraduate degree in speech pathology. Tricia has published
more than 60 peer reviewed journal articles, supervised more than
20 research students, and has had $3.6 million in research grants. She
has been an accreditor of university speech pathology programs since
2006 and is a member of the management committee of speechBITE.
Tricia's research, teaching and clinical practice are all focussed on
improving treatments for moderate-severe speech impairments in
children and adults. In particular, she has spent much of the past 10
years working to improve treatments for children with Childhood
Apraxia of Speech and this has resulted in the two Randomised
Control Trials comparing different interventions in this population.
With a team of colleagues, research and undergraduate students, and
volunteers she has developed the Rapid Syllable Transition Training
intervention (ReST), a novel intervention which uses drill practice
of non-words to improve the motor planning skills. This treatment
has been shown to be effective in face to face and telehealth service
delivery. The Ian Potter Foundation has recently funded a free internet
based training program for clinicians in ReST and this training will
provide many more children with access to this innovative treatment.
Tricia is also interested in the application of Evidence Based Practice
in speech pathology, service delivery innovations and professional
voice user training. She maintains a small private practice in Sydney
providing second opinion assessments and treatment to children and
adults with speech disorders. Tricia tweets as @tricmc on speech
pathology topics and baking.